Coffee House Confessions
by WellWishes
Summary: It's amazing what you find out when you bump into an acquaintance at a coffee house.


**A/N: Just woke up this morning with the urge to write this after having a sticky note on my laptop for over a year now that says 'Coffee shop. Tori coming out'. I won't get rid of the sticky note though, I like it.**

* * *

The tinkle of a bell rang through the quiet coffee shop as the door was opened, letting in a gust of bitterly cold wind and a tall, dark haired girl wrapped up in a thick black leather jacket. The barrister behind the counter didn't pay much attention to the girl as her heavily booted feet stomped their way across the room, he only glanced up, briefly, when she came to a halt in front of him, blocking the light that cast over the napkin he was absent-mindedly doodling on.

"Usual." Was all the girl said, as she dropped some coins onto the countertop then lent back against it, her ice blue eyes sweeping across the cosy confines of the place.

It was 11pm, and as expected, the small, late night coffee house wasn't exactly bustling and busy on a Thursday. At a table by one of the large windows that faced the dark street outside, an elderly couple sat deep in conversation. The moonlight glinted off the mans' worn wedding ring as he reached out to his wife's hand, smiling wide as she giggled and blushed like a little school girl at his gesture. A small group of students were huddled together in a corner, their heads down as they poured over the many books and papers that littered their table, only looking up to take the occasional sip of their third coffee of the night so far, or to ask another a question.

Finally, the girls' eyes landed on someone far too familiar for her liking. The someone sat alone in a far corner, staring straight ahead, seemly at nothing. Her chestnut hair was tousled, like she'd been raking her hand through her hair continuously and, as if on cue, the girls fingers came up to massage her scalp while a long sigh escaped her lips.

"Make that to stay." The girl at the counter called over her shoulder to the youth, who had just returned with a polystyrene cup filled with her hot beverage of choice. She didn't even spare him a glance as he sighed in defeat, her eyes trained solely on the corner table.

"Alright, I'll bite." The first girl said as she took a seat, causing the distracted girl to give a startled jump, the coffee she'd been nursing since she'd got there spilling over the rim of the mug. "What's eating at you, Vega?"

"Jade!" Tori gasped; hand over her rapidly beating heart. She grabbed her napkin, scrabbling to clean up the spillage.

"I know who I am." Jade replied coolly. "But that doesn't answer my question. What's got you sitting alone in a coffee shop at way past your bedtime, staring mournfully at a wall? Not that I don't find it entertaining to see you so miserable."

Without a word, Tori got up to discard her now soggy tissue in the nearest trash can, feeling Jade's eyes following her the whole time. She sat down again, finally taking a sip of her lukewarm drink, raising an eyebrow in question. "And you care because?"

"I don't." Jade answered quickly. "I've just got nothing else to do right now and its fun to torment you. So tell me."

Jade lent her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her palm and feigning a look of interest as Tori sat silently across from her. The two girls remained quiet for a short while, Jade's eyes boring into the troubled brown, Tori beginning to fidget uncomfortably under the scrutinising gaze.

"Fine!" Tori hissed, breaking under the stare. "You really wanna know?"

Jade sat up straight in her seat, taking a long draught of her drink. "That's why people ask questions, Vega. To get an answer."

Tori glared at the dark haired girl for a moment "Might as well get it over with" She muttered more to herself, before looking at the girl across from her "… I came out to my parents."

Jade didn't even flinch at the statement. She placed her half empty mug back on the table and lent forward a little, catching Tori's expectant eye again. "As what? A horrible actress? A terrible singer? About as talented as Trina?"

"You said my singing 'wasn't awful!'" Tori cried.

"I lied."

Jade sat back smirking as Tori huffed. "If all you're going to do is insult me, then I'm leaving." The half-latina girl mumbled, getting up from her seat, only to have her wrist captured by slender fingers.

"Alright, I'm sorry." Jade rolled her eyes, tugging Tori back into her place. "You're the most fantastical singer out there. Happy? Great. Now tell me more about you being gay."

Jade's voice seemed to echo louder in the calm coffee shop, and Tori looked around quickly to see if anyone had heard her before adjusted herself into a more comfortable position, keeping her voice low "What more is there to tell? 'I'm gay' pretty much covers it."

"It doesn't explain why you're here and not having some big ass coming out party with your parents or something."

"Coming out party?" Tori questioned, amused. "Those things exist?"

Jade threw her hands up in mock defence. "Well, I haven't come out to my parents; I don't know how this works!"

"You never have to." Tori muttered.

"Didn't say that."

There was a beat of silence as Jade took a nonchalant sip of her coffee.

"Y-"

"We're talking about you here, Vega. Not me." The dark haired girl interrupted quickly, folding her arms over her chest in a defensive stance.

"Right." Tori cleared her throat, resisting the curiosity that urged her to question Jade further, for now. "Mom seemed okay about it, but dad…" She paused, biting her lip. To distract herself from looking directly into Jade's questioning and- maybe she was imagining things- concerned eyes, Tori picked up her plastic stirrer from the table and twirled it around the remaining dregs of her coffee. "He said he needed some time to think about it."

"Think about what!?" Jade blurted, causing the few people in the place to look around at them. After a quick death glare all around, the blue eyed girl lowered her tone. "So he's golden child is gay, big deal. It's not like you got knocked up or something."

"Jade!" Tori reprimanded. "I'm not a golden child."

"Fine. Rainbow child." Jade quipped, waving off Tori's next complaint. "Whatever. So, what did he do? Kick you out until he 'thought about it'" She continued, waggling her fingers in quotation marks.

Tori shook her head. "I decided to come here. I just wanted to be alone for a bit. It's not that far to walk from my house."

Jade nodded, clicking her fingers at the passing barrister, who had been clearing up the empty mugs from the students table as they left, a heavy work load under each of their arms. She pointed between the two of them, telling the night worker to get the same again.

"What about Trina? As egotistical as she is, I'm sure she's got something to say about this."

The tan girl opened her mouth to protest in defence of her sister, only to shrug it off. "She already knew. She figured it out a long time ago and was the one who convinced me to just get the telling out of the way. 'Better to get it over and done with now than give them a heart attack when they come home to find you in bed with some chick.'" Tori quoted, cringing at how crude her older sibling could be, while Jade outright laughed.

The tired worker returned with their beverages and, without a word, Jade handed him a bill before her companion could even reach for her purse. She slid the mug over to a surprised looking Tori, who wrapped her hands around the ceramic, enjoying the warmth.

"Anyone else know?" Jade inquired once the kid had handed her the change and left.

Tori shrugged. "Andre might have an idea, but I haven't actually told him. He keeps giving me strange looks lately, especially when I'm talking to a girl."

"So I'm the first person you've told besides your parents." Jade stated more than questioned, relaxing in her seat and propping her feet up beside the spot Tori sat. "I feel honoured."

"Circumstantial." Tori dismissed. "You're the first person that I know who I've seen since telling my parents."

"Oh." Jade swung her feet back onto the floor, pretending to be hurt by Tori's words. "So I'm not your first choice to tell! Well, now I'm just upset."

Tori cocked her head; giving Jade a look that told her she didn't buy the act for a second. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

"I don't." Jade shrugged off easily. "At least now I know for sure you're not after Beck-"

"How many times do I have to tell you I've never been after Beck!?" Tori injected in annoyance. "Besides, you two broke up!"

"Relax, Vega, I'm messing with you." Jade smirked, thoroughly enjoying the reaction she got and Tori's 'humph' after.

A silence fell between the two as they each got lost in their own thoughts. Jade watched the elderly couple she'd seen earlier get up to leave, the husband holding his arm out for his wife to take, guiding her through the door to the parking lot while she smiled up at him with so much adoration in her eyes. Jade felt the corners of her mouth lift up in her own smile and only tore her gaze away when Tori's quiet voice caught her attention once again. Now only the two of them were left.

"You're… you're not going to hold this over me or anything, are you?" She said in almost a whisper, directed more towards the table top. "You're not going to tell everyone at school or make some horrible remarks or-"

"What kind of monster do you think I am, Tori?" Jade hissed in offence. "I would never use someone's sexuality against them! That's just not right."

Tori muttered her apology. "Sorry. It's just… you and I don't have the greatest track record…"

"_So_? Doesn't mean I'm going to start ripping on you for liking girls. Anyone who does that will meet with the business end of my scissors."

Tori lifted her head to give Jade a small, grateful smile "Thank you." Her expression quickly turned into an inquisitive look. "What did you mean earlier, when I said you never have to come out to your parents and you said that's not what you meant?"

Jade rolled her eyes, having expected this question sooner or later after what she'd casually dropped in to their conversation. "Lets just say, I like to think I'm open minded enough to not care who or what people are, or what people think about me because of it. It's none of their business anyway." She answered vaguely, examining the finger nails of her right hand that was draped across the back of the chair.

Tori murmured a noise of agreement. "So… if a girl were to ask you out…?"

"Depends on the girl."

Tori swallowed. "If_ I_ were to ask you out…" Jade's attention was snapped back to the girl opposite her in a heartbeat. Her head was hung slightly and she peered up through her long, brunette locks that were obscuring her blushing face from Jade's view. "Hypothetically." Tori added as an after thought.

"Well,_ hypothetically_, I'd say you'd have to take me out to a damn nice restaurant for a first date." Jade said slowly. "And you'd have to pay. I'm not splitting the bill; I want to be treated like a queen."

"That doesn't surprise me." Tori said, shaking her head with a grin.

"_And_" Jade continued, ignoring the comment. "_Hypothetically_, you'd have to pick me up at 7 tomorrow."

"But, I haven't passed my drivers test yet!" Tori admitted, trying not to sound too disappointed. "I didn't see the old lady!"

"Well then, this hypothetical date" Jade slammed her now empty coffee mug on the table "just isn't going to work out."

Tori spluttered over her words for a moment, unable to think of anything to say while Jade sat back smirking.

"I don't know why you're getting so worked up, Vega. It's only hypothetical." The dark haired girl teased.

"O-of course!" Tori stuttered, unconvincingly acting as if she didn't care.

"But." Jade added, slipping out of her seat. She reached into her pocket and fished out her car keys, twirling them around her finger. "Hypothetically, if you could find another way to pick me up at 7 tomorrow…" She trailed off, almost laughing at the hopeful look that now graced Tori's face.

"Then, I will hypothetically see you at 7 tomorrow for our hypothetical date."

"Okay, can we stop with the hypothetical thing now, it got old fast." Tori laughed, sliding out from her side of the table to stand next to Jade, who couldn't help but smile herself. "You're coming with me now, though." Jade added seriously. "It's dark and I'm not having my date stand me up because she got murdered while walking home."

"I'm not quite sure how to respond to that" Tori said, although her grin grew wider still.

They walked towards the door together, the barrister breathing a sigh of relief as his last customers went. "Whatever. Just, tell me what your dad says. And if he's a complete ass about it, tell him I'm not afraid to use my scissors."

"He is a cop, Jade." Tori reminded her, opening the passenger side door as Jade unlocked her car.

"I'm well aware. That doesn't give him the right to be a narrow-minded wazzbag though."

Tori shook her head. "By the way." She added to change the subject, settling into the soft seat of Jade's car. "This would technically be our second date."

Jade glanced at Tori before she reversed out of the parking space, rolling her eyes at the pleased look the other girl wore. "Lets hope no butt cheeks interrupt this one then."


End file.
